Go Bears, Baby!

My friend and co-worker, Miss Cindy, is pregnant with her second baby. (Are you noticing a trend yet with my friends and family? All pregnant!) Her first child was a girl, and her second will be a boy. Cindy and her husband are huge Chicago Bears fans (like myself), and the other day, Cindy's husband had a minor freakout regarding hospital attire. You see, their son IS going to be a future Chicago Bear (they're 100% sure of it). In years time when Baby M is in the NFL and ESPN calls asking for pictures of him growing up, it would be absurd if his very first picture was in a generic hospital hat instead of in a Bears-inspired hat. I quickly remedied this situation with the following little knit. I hope it fits!

Lolly's Secret Card Drive

LollyChops is hosting a Secret Card Drive for a friend of hers who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. You can get more details using the above link, but basically you just need to make (or buy) a card for Lolly's friend Crystal, so that Lolly can surprise Crystal each morning of her treatment with something pretty and positive. She has about three months worth of cards (and they're all so amazing!), but she could use about three months more. If you're interested, just let Lolly know you'd like the details by leaving her a comment with your contact info on her Secret Card Drive post.

Here's the card I made and sent.

A Puffy Blanket for Little Pea

Miss Tiffany over at Peanut Blossom is patiently awaiting the May arrival of her "Little Pea." I've known Tiffany for a few years, but I think I have gotten to know her best through her blog. So when I first heard she was pregnant over the winter, I couldn't wait to make a baby gift for her.

While the good thing about blogs is that you can learn a lot about another person, the bad thing is you can't share your projects if you readers are the gift receivers. I've been working on this blanket for the past couple of weeks, but I had to keep a tight lid on it until it was in Tiffany's hands. And now that it is, here we go...

This is the Ribbons Baby Blanket done in three colors: teal, lime, and magenta. I've knit this pattern once before, but for whatever reason, it turned out much puffier this time. The yarn was a little thicker, so maybe that was it. It just made it a little more roly-poly-oly.

And here's a picture of the gift wrapped and a card I made. (Thanks, Tiffany, for taking great pictures...something I forgot to do!)

More Flowers Friday

If you haven't already, it's a must--no, a moral imperative!--that you head over to LollyChops and check out her Wallflowers Week, which I think is wrapping up today. It was amazing, and not something my crafty friends should forego. She'll teach you how to make all of the following, and so much more! Now go have some flower fun!

Oh, Mrs. O!

I'm a big fan of Mrs. Obama for both her charisma and her style. I'm obvioulsy not the first person to say it, but she really is our modern day Jackie O. Whenever I need a little dose of style, I head on over to the Mrs. O site, which documents the first lady's current styles, and where to get them. Recently, they've featured Carole Tanenbaum's Mrs. O-inspired 60s-era vintage flower pins collection. Upon seeing these gems, I was transported to my mom's bedroom and a plastic bin full of similar jewelry that she had either picked up at antique stores or had inherited from her mother. I rarely wear pins, but I'm pretty sure if I had these in my personal collection, I'd wear them all the time! Just another hint of spring.

More Happy Spring!

I just came across this picture hiding away in my files (I think it was hibernating for the winter). I swears I've posted this before, but I can't find it. And crafting is kind of slow at the moment, so this is alls I gots. March has brought some beautiful sunshine. April will probably bring showers. And that means May will bring...you guessed it! Flowers!

I'm pretty sure Dexter would kill me if I did this to him.

Obsessive Consumption

In my recent online wanderings, I came across Obsessive Consumption. Instead of trying to describing it myself, I did an easy peasy copy and paste job from the About section: "Kate Bingaman-Burt was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1977. She founded Obsessive Consumption in 2002 and has documented her personal consumption in many different mediums. Her first book, Obsessive Consumption: What Did You Buy Today?, will be published by Princeton Architectural Press in March 2010." So to sum that up, Kate's blog is filled with drawings of the items she buys each day. Seems like it wouldn't be that interesting, but it really is. And I wonder how the thought of drawing something affects her purchases? Hmm...

Everyday Facts

Shane found these illustrated facts and sent them to me for a giggle. Below are a few of my faves, but go here to see them all.

Maybe my parents aren't really my parents. Hmm...life might make more sense. =)

Spring Has Sprung!

Just when you feel like winter will never end in Wisconsin (and I feel that way starting Jan. 2), little glimpses of spring start to pop up. And it couldn't have come at a better time. Seriously. Like really seriously!

This was the first sign. The tulips and/or crocuses I planted in October were sprouting when the dirt around the tree was still half covered in snow. I think that's the flowers way of saying "enough is enough." Or maybe that was just me saying that.

And then on Sunday, this beautiful Morning Dove came and perched upon my fence. He/she (obviously I know nothing about birds) had a little lover, but I couldn't get the two in the picture together. I just love "its" colors.

Luck O' the Irish

Happy St. Patty's Day! If you need me, I'll be chasing down leprechauns and hunting down gluten-free green beer. Kiss someone Irish today...or just pretend whoever you're kissing is Irish.

You can get this applique on Etsy here.

Vote for Dex's Mama!

Bissell (the vacuum cleaner company) is having an MVP Pet Photo Contest, and Dexter's mama Zarah needs some votes! Head on over and show her some puppy love.

Lolly's "What's for Dinner?" Bracelet Giveaway

Miss LollyChops is having a giveaway here! All you have to do is leave her a comment saying what you're having for dinner tonight, and you could be the lucky winner of this super spring-y Lolly-made bracelet. Head on over and tell her I said, "Hi!" Go on...scoot.

JoJo on the GoGo

I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but at one point I was considering walking the 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk with my pal Miss Jodi (aka JoJo). After much thought, I decided this year was not the time to be adding the stress of training and raising the $2300 (I think?) entry requirement on top of fixing up the house and hanging out with the hubs and the pups. However, I still wanted to do as much as I could to help JoJo get the moolah she needed.

I gathered up a bunch of crafty friends, and together we decided to make and donate things that JoJo can sell at a craft show at the end of this month. Since everyone has different talents, there will be an array of different crafts: sock monkeys, scrapbooks, jewelry, magnets, and lots, lots more. Miss Kaia created the following logo, which Miss Stacey took and made into a stamp so that all of the items will have cute hangtags.
Below is the pile I'm donating. It contains the last three shawls I knit ( #2, #3, and #4), two skully camera bags, and two skully pairs of socks. Now fingers crossed that she sells out of everything!


If you'd like to make a donation to help breast cancer and JoJo get on the GoGo, go here!

#4 of 10 for 2010

As promised, here she is--my Springtime Bandit. This is my #4 shawl toward 10 shawls in 2010. However, I think I need a lace break for a little while. I think my next project will be something that I can just pick up and knit and put down without getting lost in a pattern. I'm not done with patterns for good, I just need a breather.

This picture makes it look huge, but it's not. It's just a little girl model form that it's on. Trick photography. =)

Poor Puppy

I'm playing nurse today to a sick pup. His little tummy has been bothering him all weekend. We thought he was better on Monday, but alas, we woke up in the middle of the night to another disaster (I'll spare you the details). Dex has always had a sensitive stomach, but this has been the worst. Poor little guy.

This weekend we had him all bundled up and sleeping in the sunshine (his favorite).

We've been giving him handfuls of snow so that he can take in fluids. He loves snow! As Shane filled his water bowl up with snow, it made me think of the Snoopy SnoCone machine from when I was a kid. I can't remember if we had one growing up or if I just wanted one so badly that I believed I had one. Either way, I'm sure Dex would appreciate a Snoopy SnoCone right now (well, when he wakes up, that is).

Meet the Future Tim Burton

My pal and partner in crime Miss Barbara has a very creative 6-year-old son named Sam. Sam made a Cat in the Hat calendar at school and Barbara shared it with me. As a big Tim Burton fan, I love his amazing creation. I think it's so awesome...OK, maybe a little scary...but creative none the less. And as for scary, at least Sam isn't three and drawing snowmen with blood-dripping fangs, like my husband. (It's still amazing that his parents didn't seek out help...kidding, Shane!).

This is not a far cry from...

... this. We all have to start somewhere.

On My Sticks: Springtime Bandit

First, let me start out by saying that none of the following shawls and/or pictures belong to me. I swiped them from the good knitters of Ravelry to show you examples of what I'm currently knitting but have been too lazy to take pictures of. So, with that said, I'm working on a new lace shawl (this would be number 4 of my 10 in 2010) called "Springtime Bandit." I've knit the whole body of the shawl already and now have about 25 rows of border left to do. However, the last few nights I haven't had any interest in doing so. I'm hoping to find renewed knitting interest this weekend.

I'm using a color from KnitPicks called "Autumn." The above color is "Sherry," but it's quite close. The Autumn has a little more golden flecks in it.

The Rest of the Baby Gifts

Well, I'd like to say that I was able to knit all three of the baby items that I had wanted, but alas, time was against me. To make matters even worse, on the last night I had to knit, I cut the tip of my finger with an Xacto. I thought I could knit with a bandage on my finger, but my needles kept getting caught on it. After much swearing, I surrendered.

I did manage to get the matching booties to the baby dress done. Itty bitty beauties!

And to make up for the missing diaper covers, I made this little framed goody for the baby's room (a pink and brown polka dotted nursery...cute!) The little sticker in the middle says "Cutie Pie."

Now it's just time to sit back and wait for the baby to get here.